Slumdog: Home
Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cautioned that suspending the suspected
offenders must be done delicately to avoid "demoralising" the police
force.

I can't believe he made such a thoughtless statement. An
innocent man has died in police custody and he is concerned about
avoiding demoralising the police force.

These are the types of
police officers the force does not need, but Zahid continues to protect
them. Is the morale of the police force so fragile? Are the police so
weak?

These are the bully boys and thugs who torture, assault,
shoot, murder, rape, plant incriminating evidence, abuse their power and
steal from innocent citizens and yet they may be demoralised if the
police officers identified so far in the custodial death, are suspended
from duty?

Progressive: "Zahid cautioned that such a move (suspension) must be done delicately to avoid ‘demoralising' the police force."

‘Demoralising',
‘delicate' - by gosh such words for these suspected murderers. God
bless this post-GE13 cabinet. God bless this country for having a
minister of such calibre. I have no more words.

Ksn: What
are you talking about, home minister? A person has died in police
custody apparently after being tortured by police officers. What
‘delicacy' are you implying?

Why should a few officers in PDRM
(Royal Malaysian Police) who commit serious crimes be treated
differently from those who are not police officers?

As a matter
of fact, these officers must be made examples of so that others in the
force will not ape them. So please, do not look for excuses.

The
other police officers would not be demoralised. In fact, the good ones
whom I believe are the majority, would not allow power get to their
heads. You too have something to learn here, Zahid.

Anonymous #40538199: It
is not a question of demoralising the police force but asking the
police personnel to be responsible for their actions in order to up hold
the good name of police force, and send a clear massage to that all
suspected crimes will be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators
punished if proven.

Survivor: Zahid, we are
talking about lives being lost due to potential culpable homicide or
murder if you like. It has nothing to do with demoralising someone in
particular, or the police force in general.

If suspending those
suspected to be involved in the murder of N Dhamendran can prevent or
cause to prevent any future prejudicial or summary execution of innocent
members of the public or anyone under the custody of the police force,
then we should go all out for it.

See3: Zahid
says "....so that future custodial deaths are not automatically blamed
on the police"? He obviously doesn't know what custodial deaths means,
and why there should even be future custodial deaths in the first place.

Where are the CCTVs? Weren't they supposed to be functioning all along?
If he wants a positive image for the PDRM, he must punish the black
sheep in the force and stop pussyfooting around.

Adsertor: The
issue here is more critical than the demoralising of the police force.
Preservation of human life and respect for its sacredness are paramount
to all other considerations.

The police officers involved must immediately be charged and be locked up for the safety of the public.

P Dev Anand Pillai:
What is minister Zahid talking about when referring to the
demoralisation of the force? It is most probably one of the most
pampered departments in the Malaysian civil service.

These police
officers must be taught a severe lesson or else we will encourage more
legal thuggery by young, lowly educated, intellectually challenged men
who are given the blue uniform and asked to function as police officers.

Legit: Zahid, you are answerable to the people, the voters who voted you and the taxpayers who pay your salary. Don't talk nonsense.

This
whole police force needs cleaning up and needs to refocus on crime
prevention and stop being a partner in crime. As home minister, please
come up with constructive ideas on how to do these, otherwise just
resign.

Tiger: These bunch of police thugs are no different to those civilian murderers. The only difference is they wear badges.

Until
we can correct this ‘samseng culture' in the police force, the police
will never have the respect of the people. Obviously, with the new
inspector-general of police (IGP), things are not going to get any
better soon.

Wira: Zahid, the force is
demoralised because more and more rakyat neither believe nor trust them
and they are not doing a noble job today which would bring them immense
satisfaction.
Your duty is to bring pride back to the force.
Allowing suspects in the force to remain on duty while a murder
investigation is ongoing is not the standard operating procedure
anywhere in the world, except in extremely corrupt and authoritarian
regimes.

Anonymous #49857050: I am of the opinion that this minister does not know which act that really causes the demoralisation in the police force.

When
you as the leader and refuse to act, you are ultimately telling the
whole police force and the rakyat that you condone the killing. That is
what demoralises the police force and the rakyat; not the suspension.

Chindarkam Siri Songkram:
In fact, sterner actions must be meted out against those culprits in
the police force as they are supposed to uphold the law and integrity of
the police force. This is the only way to gain public confidence.'M'sians are demoralised by rogue police officers'
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini
subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past
one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.